Revolve

Friday's outfit was inspired by this Pinterest:

Like the idea of pairing this dressy top with casual sandals...

 Top - Anthropologie

Jeans - Forever 21

Sandals - Target

FRIDAY:
Crazy day volunteering at school almost all morning then shopping for birthday presents followed up by swim practice and soccer practice but ended with a fun note where my best friend and I took my son to a Revolving Sushi Bar named after our last name. My son unlike many American children absolutely loves sushi but my daughter is a very average child when it comes to taste buds so I left her with my mom while took my son to the restaurant. There was an hour wait for this tiny place located in a strip mall but my friend went early to write our name.
It was such a fun place especially for kids where tiny plates of sushi circle on a belt that revolves around the whole restaurant next to each table. You pull out the plate if you want that item. When you are done you feed the empty plate to a slot and the pad on your table counts the dishes you have consumed. When you reach 15 a little 'hello kitty' surprise toy pops from the gift machine. You can also order items not on the belt and those come in a super fast fashion on an upper belt and stop right at your table. It is just all very cool.
Definitely not cheap though especially when you have a healthy eater like my son. :)

Free Falling

Vest, Jeans - Forever 21

Top - J Crew Factory

Purse - Kate Spade

Heels - Zara

Earrings - TJ Maxx

WEDNESDAY:
AFter a whirlwind of a day met up with the girls at a dumpling restaurant that was quite popular. It was nice to catch up as our schedules are crazy and we couldn't even pin down another date to get together again… That is what happens when two of us have kids who play in multiple sports and another two travel all the time for work.

Grit

Yesterday's inspiration from April 2015 issue of People Style Watch:

Top, Sandals - J Crew

Pants - Express

Necklace - Cookie Lee

TUESDAY:
After the morning errands that involve my new volunteer work at school attending a parenting seminar at school. The topic was 'Grit'. How to raise our children to have 'Grit'. I hadn't quite heard of this word .In the context of the seminar it meant Persevering and not giving up to reach goals and having a Growth Mindset instead of a fixed one.
It is so true that we are raising a generation of kids who are praised above and beyond and therefore think they are great. It is also the internet generation kids who are used to getting what they want instantly. It is especially hard if you have a child who is advanced and talented therefore gets used to things being easy. When things get hard they simply conclude they just must not be smart enough. It was all about changing that mindset that when we face something hard it just means we have to put more effort into understanding and learning and that our brain is developing while doing so.
We were told to look at brain like a muscle. It does not develop if you do the same things that you already know how to do well. Such as lifting 2 lb. dumbbells.
The only time a brain/muscle will develop is if you push it beyond its comfort zone. To build muscles you would gradually increate the weight you lift.
For your brain you have to challenge it by learning new things or trying to do the same things in a different way.
I am really looking forward to the seminar series that will be every Tuesday for 4 weeks.
The concepts not only apply to how we raise our children but to ourselves in general.

Tough Choice

Sunday's outfit was inspired by this look from J Crew:

I don't have a sleeveless denim top so I used a white top instead but adding the large brim black fedora was a great idea from the inspiration...

Top - From Turkey

Skirt - Vintage

Hat - Forever 21

Slides - Zara

Purse - DKNY

SUNDAY:
The kids and I finally finished listening to the Harry Potter Book #4 (Goblet of Fire) on tape this week so we were all looking forward to watching the movie sunday morning. I love sharing these books with the kids as it becomes 'our thing' as we reference books we have read together. And I am amazed at my son's ability to remember every character name and scene from such thick book.
He was torn though by mid morning by the decision he had to make whether to continue watching the really long movie or going over to his Grandpa's house to watch the Charger game as he had promised the night before.
Decisions, decisions, decisions…
He decided to keep his promise at the end and go and watched the rest of the movie when he came home late afternoon after his baseball game.